Hidden Secrets…
by kirayasha aka kira
Summary: Rin has a secret... Written for LJ's IYHolidays' Secret Santa


Hidden Secrets…

By kira, your Secret Santa

For Brownie…

888

Rin slid open the shoji and stepped through. She took a few stepped on the low covered veranda to the edge and stood there, watching the snow fall. In her mind's eye, she was a young girl again, trailing after her beloved Sesshomaru-sama. She remembered the cold fondly; because it was the second time he had bestowed a gift upon her, giving her a pair of hakama and a warm chanchanko, and leather tabi for her feet. And the nights they spent together under the stars as the snow slowly fell from the sky, like it was doing now, when he would wrap her up in his mokomoko. Rin reached up to touch the mantle of fur that was draped around her shoulders and sighed softly, her breath coming out in a warm puff of air.

Everything was so quiet and peaceful as she looked out over the snow covered courtyard. Except her mind was racing, and not even the beautiful scene before her could calm her fears. She had news of great importance to tell him, and she was certain he already knew from what his mother had been hinting at. The dowager lady of the western lands still urged her to tell him herself, but Rin found herself unable to do so. She had grown up knowing exactly how her beloved felt about hanyou to harbor no doubts as to his reaction to fathering one himself would be.

The sound of the shoji sliding back and a soft rustle of silk signaled her presence. His lady mother was here and she was the last person Rin wanted to see, besides her husband. "Ojou-sama…?"

"You should tell him, child."

"I …" Rin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "I can't…" She sighed.

"Foolish girl," the lady of the west said affectionately. "You know full well that my son grows more like his father everyday."

"But Sesshomaru-sama hated his-"

"Sesshomaru was a foolish pup. And a foolish man if he objects to this." She looked down at her daughter-in-law's stomach.

Rin turned to face her, her mouth hanging slightly open with shock. She tried to rebut the lady's statement, but words failed her.

"See you know this to be true as well. So go to him, little one, and tell him of the child you carry. Unless I'm sadly mistaken, things will not be as bad as you fear."

"I hope so, milady…"

The older youkai woman sighed. "Just go to him." She dismissed Rin with a flick of her wrist. Nodding as her human daughter-in-law bowed, she stepped to the side to allow her to pass.

"Thank you, Ojou-sama…" Rin walked over to the shoji, and sliding it back, she entered the place.

"'Haha,'" she corrected. "How many times, must I tell you, little one, to call me that?" The lady smiled. Looking out over the snow covered courtyard, she prayed her son would accept the child his human wife carried.

Rin, meanwhile, was slowly making her way through the palace. She was on her way to her husband's study, where she knew he would be at this hour, studying his reports. Once there, Rin had no idea how to broach the subject, and she feared sitting there, making a fool out of herself while she wasted his time. So she stood just outside the shoji, debating with herself over disturbing him or not. Gathering her courage, Rin knocked on the shoji.

"Enter," her husband's rich baritone called out.

Dropping to her knees, Rin slid the inner shoji back. Bowing low and respectfully, she straightened up, and shuffled inside on her knees. Sitting back on her heels, she reached behind her to close the shoji.

"Rin?" It was more statement than question and while he appeared perfectly neutral in his expression, she caught the subtle flash of concern in his eyes.

"My lord husband."

He arched a delicate eyebrow at her in reply.

As if hearing the unspoken question, she answered, "Rin has something she wishes to discuss with you…"

Sesshomaru set his brush down and closed his ledger. Her formality and the lapse back into her childhood way of referring to herself in the third person made him furrow his brow ever so slightly in consternation. He wondered what had happened to upset her. The young taiyoukai nodded, giving her permission to speak.

Rin stared down at her hands where they rested in her lap. Taking a deep breath, she settled her nerves. Looking up at her husband, she said softly, "Rin finds herself with child, milord."

Sesshomaru nodded as his suspicions proved true.

"She has no idea how it happened…"

He snorted in amusement.

Meeting his gaze, Rin was surprised to see the faintest of smiles tugging at his lips. "No?" Schooling his features back into tight neutrality, he arched his eyebrow at her again.

Rin lifted her hand to her mouth as she bowed her head, hiding her nervous smile. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest and she was sure he heard its thunderous beating. "Well, Rin does know how it happened, but she didn't think it would happen…" she rambled as thoughts about their nights spent together danced in her head. That man was wildly different from the cool one who sat opposite her.

Sesshomaru nodded.

She smiled at him, but it quickly faded as she tried to read his expression. "Well, ummm… so…" Rin trailed off. She gazed up at her husband, but he sat there, indifferent to her ramblings. As she searched his face for a sign that he was either pleased with her news or extremely angry with her, her thoughts drifted back to last night and Rin could feel her cheeks heating up. He had made sweet passionate love to her and when she closed her eyes as she tried to order her thoughts, his naked body sprang to mind. That led to thoughts of when she had possibly conceived. Rin knew that despite outward appearances, he did love her, or at least he once did, now that she had disgraced him by carrying a hanyou she was not sure.

And yet, when she opened her eyes, she could have sworn he was laughing at her. "Milord…?"

"Rin?"

"Umm…" She looked away and back as she wondered if he was reading her mind, for the look he gave her hinted at passion, despite his clam exterior. Flustered, she felt on the verge of tears.

"Do you regret this?" he asked, his voice startling her.

"No… never…" Rin bowed her head, wiping under her eyes with her fingertips. "Rin thought… I thought perhaps you did…." she finished softly.

He took a deep breath, slowly letting it out, and she wondered if he was irritated by what he referred to as her "foolishness."

"Sesshomaru-sama…?"

He silently regarded her. As he reached for his brush, she blurted out what was on her mind.

"Do you regret this?"

The taiyoukai paused in his actions. Looking over at her, he said, "This Sesshomaru has no regrets, nor is he displeased by this. Now please allow him to continue his work." He picked up his brush, silently dismissing her, and opened his ledger.

Rin's lower lips trembled as relief washed over her. She sat there, letting her tears run down her cheeks.

"Rin?" Sesshomaru looked up from his work at her. "Are you ill?"

"No… Rin is just being foolish."

He nodded.

"She will go be foolish elsewhere so as not to disturb you."

Sesshomaru, setting his brush down, closed his ledger. With a soft rustle of silk, he rose to his feet and padded over to her. "Come," he said softly. "This Sesshomaru believes it's snowing again and he wishes to see it."

Wiping her eyes, Rin took a minute to compose herself, before standing. He nodded and without another word, he slid the shoji back, allowing her to enter the hallway before him. She waited and as he swept past her, she fell into step with him. They walked in companionable silence through the palace's inner corridors until they reached her private quarters.

Sesshomaru slid the shoji back and Rin entered her room. Without a backwards glance, she crossed the room, and opened the shoji leading to the outside. He was at her side in an instant, settling his mokomoko on her shoulders, before they stepped outside. They walked over to where his mother had remained, watching the snow fall.

"Haha-ue…"

"Sesshomaru," the lady of the west said. Turning to face them, she added, "Little one…"

"Rin has something she wishes to tell you," the taiyoukai said, arching a delicate eyebrow at his mother's impish smile.

"Little one?" his mother said, her eyes sparkling with barely concealed amusement.

"Milady… Haha-ue… Rin…ummm… I, I am with child," Rin said.

"Indeed," the lady of west replied. Walking up to her son, she smiled as she cupped his cheek affectionately. "You grow more and more like your father in the strangest of ways."

Rin smiled into her sleeve.

"Come, little one, we have many things of importance to discuss." She swept past them, Rin in tow, leaving Sesshomaru standing there.

"Indeed…" the taiyoukai said as he watched them leave. Then it hit him, his mother had known all along that his human wife was with child. Even more amazing, she was not angry in the least and Sesshomaru wondered if she had known all those years ago when she had tested him, that this would be the final outcome. Looking back at the falling snow, the taiyoukai preferred to think that she was just simply overjoyed with the idea of him producing an heir. Dismissing them from his thoughts, Sesshomaru turned to watch the snow gently falling in the courtyard…


End file.
